THE CHALDAN ORACLES

ATTRIBUTED TO
ZOROASTER.
PREFACE
By SAPERE AUDE.
THESE Oracles are considered to embody many of the principal features of Chaldan
philosophy. They have come down to us through Greek translations and were held in the
greatest esteem throughout antiquity, a sentiment which was shared alike by the early
Christian Fathers and the later Platonists. The doctrines contained therein are attributed to
Zoroaster, though to which particular Zoroaster is not known; historians give notices of
as many as six different individuals all bearing that name, which was probably the title of
the Prince of the Magi, and a generic term. The word Zoroaster is by various authorities
differently derived: Kircher furnishes one of the most interesting derivations when he
seeks to show that it comes from TzURA = a figure, and TzIUR= to fashion, ASH = fire,
and STR = hidden; from these he gets the words Zairaster = fashioning images of hidden
fire;--or Tzuraster=the image of secret things. Others derive it from Chaldee and Greek
words meaning " a contemplator of the Stars."
p. 4

It is not, of course, pretended that this collection as it stands is other than disjointed and
fragmentary, and it is more than probable that the true sense of many passages has been
obscured, and even in some cases hopelessly obliterated, by inadequate translation.
Where it has been possible to do so, an attempt has been made to elucidate doubtful or
ambiguous expressions, either by modifying the existing translation from the Greek,
where deemed permissible, or by appending annotations.
It has been suggested by some that these Oracles are of Greek invention, but it has
already been pointed out by Stanley that Picus de Mirandula assured Ficinus that he had
the Chaldee Original in his possession, "in which those things which are faulty and
defective in the Greek are read perfect and entire," and Ficinus indeed states that he
found this MS. upon the death of Mirandula. In addition to this, it should be noted that
here and there in the original Greek version, words occur which are not of Greek
extraction at all, but are Hellenised Chaldee.
Berosus is said to be the first who introduced the writings of the Chaldans concerning
Astronomy and Philosophy among the Greeks, * and it is certain that the traditions of

Chaldea very largely influenced Greek thought. Taylor considers that some of these
mystical utterances are the sources whence the sublime conceptions of Plato were
formed, and large commentaries were written upon them by Porphyry, Iamblichus,
Proclus, Pletho and Psellus. That men of such great learning and sagacity should have
thought so highly of these Oracles, is a fact which in itself should commend them to our
attention.
p. 5

The term "Oracles" was probably bestowed upon these epigrammatic utterances in order
to enforce the idea of their profound and deeply mysterious nature. The Chaldans,
however, had an Oracle, which they venerated as highly as the Greeks did that at
Delphi. *
We are indebted to both Psellus and Pletho, for comments at some length upon the
Chaldan Oracles, and the collection adduced by these writers has been considerably
enlarged by Franciscus Patricius, who made many additions from Proclus, Hermias,
Simplicius, Damascius, Synesius, Olympiodorus, Nicephorus and Arnobius; his
collection, which comprised some 324 oracles under general heads, was published in
Latin in 1593, and constitutes the groundwork of the later classification arrived at by
Taylor and Cory; all of these editions have been utilised in producing the present revise.
A certain portion of these Oracles collected by Psellus, appear to be correctly attributed to
a Chaldan Zoroaster of very early date, and are marked "Z," following the method
indicated by Taylor, with one or two exceptions. Another portion is attributed to a sect of
philosophers named Theurgists, who flourished during the reign of Marcus Antoninus,
upon the authority of Proclus, and these are marked "T." Oracles additional to these two
series and of less definite source are marked "Z or T." Other oracular passages from
miscellaneous authors are indicated by their names.
p. 6

The printed copies of the Oracles to be found in England are the following:-1. Oracula Magica, Ludovicus Tiletanus, Paris, 1563.
2. Zoroaster et ejus 320 oracula Chaldaica; by Franciscus Patricius. . . . 1593.
3. Fred. Morellus; Zoroastris oracula, 1597. Supplies about a hundred verses.
4. Otto Heurnius; Barbaric Philosophi antiquitatum libri duo, 1600.
5. Johannes Opsopoeus; Oracula Magica Zoroastris 1599. This includes the
Commentaries of Pletho and of Psellus in Latin.
6. Servatus Gallus; Sibulliakoi Chresmoi, 1688. Contains a version of the Oracles.

Thomas Stanley. The History of the Chaldaic Philosophy, 1701. This treatise contains the
Latin of Patricius, and the Commentaries of Pletho and Psellus in English.
Johannes Alb. Fabricius, Bibliotheca Grca, 1705-7. Quotes the Oracles.
Jacobus Marthanus, 1689. This version contains the Commentary of Gemistus Pletho.
Thomas Taylor, The Chaldan Oracles, in the Monthly Magazine, and published
independently, 1806.
Bibliotheca Classica Latina; A. Lemaire, volume 124, Paris, 1823.
Isaac Preston Cory, Ancient Fragments, London, 1828. (A third edition of this work has
been published, omitting the Oracles.)
Phnix, New York, 1835. A collection of curious old tracts, among which are the Oracles
of Zoroaster, copied from Thomas Taylor and I. P. Cory; with an essay by Edward
Gibbon.

INTRODUCTION
By L. O.
IT has been believed by many, and not without good reason, that these terse and
enigmatic utterances enshrine a profound system of mystical philosophy, but that this
system demands for its full discernment a refinement of faculty, involving, as it does, a
discrete perception of immaterial essences.
It has been asserted that the Chaldan Magi * preserved their occult learning among their
race by continual tradition from Father to Son. Diodorus says: "They learn these things,
not after the same fashion as the Greeks: for amongst the Chaldans, philosophy is
delivered by tradition in the family, the Son receiving it from his Father, being exempted
from all other employment; and thus having their parents for their teachers, they learn all
things fully and abundantly, believing more firmly what is communicated to them."
The remains then of this oral tradition seems to exist in these Oracles, which should be
studied in the light of the Kabalah and of Egyptian Theology. Students are aware that the
Kabalah is susceptible
p. 8

of extraordinary interpretation with the aid of the Tarot, resuming as the latter does, the
very roots of Egyptian Theology. Had a similar course been adopted by commentators in
the past, the Chaldan system expounded in these Oracles would not have been distorted
in the way it has been.

The foundation upon which the whole structure of the Hebrew Kabalah rests is an
exposition of ten deific powers successively emanated by the Illimitable Light, which in
their varying dispositions are considered as the key of all things. This divine procession
in the form of Three Triads of Powers, synthesized in a tenth, is said to be extended
through four worlds, denominated respectively Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiah, a
fourfold gradation from the subtil to the gross. This proposition in its metaphysical roots
is pantheistic, though, if it may be so stated, mediately theistic; while the ultimate
noumenon of all phenomena is the absolute Deity, whose ideation constitutes the
objective Universe.
Now these observations apply strictly also to the Chaldan system.
The accompanying diagrams sufficiently indicate the harmony and identity of the
Chaldan philosophy with the Hebrew Kabalah. It will be seen that the First Mind and
the Intelligible Triad, Pater, Potentia, or Mater, and Mens, are allotted to the Intelligible
World of Supramundane Light: the "First Mind" represents the archetypal intelligence as
an entity in the bosom of the Paternal Depth. This concentrates by reflection into the
"Second Mind " representative of the Divine Power in the Empyran World which is
identified with the second great Triad of divine powers, known as the Intelligible and at
the same time Intellectual Triad: the thereal World comprises the dual third Triad
denominated Intellectual: while the
p. 9

fourth or Elementary World is governed by Hypezokos, or Flower of Fire, the actual

builder of the world.
CHALDAN SCHEME.
The Intelligibles
World of Supra-mundane Light

The Paternal Depth

The First Mind
_______
The Intelligible Triad
Pater: Mater or Potentia: Mens

______________________________________
The Second Mind
_______

Intelligibles and Intellectuals

Iynges

in the

Synoches

Empyran World

Teletarch

______________________________________
(The Third Mind.)
Three Cosmagogi
Intellectuals

(Intellectual guides inflexible.)

in the

Three Amilicti

Ethereal World

(Implacable thunders).

______________________________________
Elementary World

Hypezokos

The Demiurgos of the

Material Universe

(Flower of Fire)
Effable, Essential and
Elemental Orders
_______
The Earth-Matter

p. 10

KABALISTIC SCHEME.
World of Atziluth The Boundless
or of God
The Illimitable

Ain Suph.
Ain Suph Aur

Light
A radiant triangle
_____________________________________

World of Briah
Divine Forces

Kether
(crown)
Binah
(Intelligence)

Chokmah
(Wisdom)

_____________________________________
Geburah
World of Yetzirah
or of Formation

Chesed
Tiphereth

Hod

Netzach.
Yesod

_____________________________________
World of Assiah
Material Form.

Malkuth
Ruled by
Adonai Melekh
_________________
The Earth-Matter

p. 11

CHALDAN SCHEME OF BEINGS.

Representatives of the previous classes guiding our universe.
I. Hyperarchii--Archangels
II. Azoni--Unzoned gods

III. Zoni--Planetary Deities.

_______________
Higher demons: Angels
_______________
Human Souls
_______________
Lower demons, elementals
Fiery
Airy
Earthy
Watery
_______________
Evil demons
Lucifugous; the kliphoth
_________________________________
__________________________________________________
_________________________________
Chaldan Theology contemplated three great divisions of supra-mundane things:--the
First was Eternal, without beginning or end, being the "Paternal Depth," the bosom of the
Deity. The Second was conceived to be that mode of being having beginning but no end;
the Creative World or Empyrum falls under this head, abounding as it does in
productions, but its source remaining superior to these. The third and last order of divine
things had a beginning in time and will end, this is the transitory Ethereal World. Seven
spheres extended through these three Worlds, viz., one in the Empyrum or
p. 12

verging from it, three in the Ethereal and three in the Elementary Worlds, while the whole
physical realm synthesized the foregoing. These seven spheres are not to be confounded
with the Seven material Planets; although the latter are the physical representatives of the
former, which can only be said to be material in the metaphysical sense of the term.
Psellus professed to identify them but his suggestions are inadequate as Stanley pointed
out. But Stanley, although disagreeing with Psellus, is nevertheless inconsistent upon this
point, for although he explains the four -Worlds of the Chaldans as successively

noumenal to the physical realm, he obviously contradicts this in saying that one
corporeal world is in the Empyrum.
Prior to the supramundane Light lay the "Paternal Depth," the Absolute Deity, containing
all things "in potentia" and eternally immanent. This is analogous to the Ain Suph Aur of
the Kabalah, three words of three letters, expressing three triads of Powers, which are
subsequently translated into objectivity, and constitute the great Triadic Law sunder the
direction of the Demiurgus, or artificer of the Universe.
In considering this schema, it must be remembered that the supramundane Light was
regarded as the primal radiation from the Paternal Depth and the archetypal noumenon of
the Empyrum, a universal, all-pervading--and, to human comprehension--ultimate
essence. The Empyrum again, is a somewhat grosser though still highly subtilized Fire
and creative source, in its turn the noumenon of the Formative or Ethereal World, as the
latter is the noumenon of the Elementary World. Through these graduated media the
conceptions of the Paternal Mind are ultimately fulfilled in time and space.
In some respects it is probable that the Oriental mind
what it was

day is not much altered from

p. 13

thousands of years ago, and much that now appears to us curious and phantastic in
Eastern traditions, still finds responsive echo in the hearts and minds of a vast portion of
mankind. A large number of thinkers and scientists in modern times have advocated
tenets which, while not exactly similar, are parallel to ancient Chaldan conceptions; this
is exemplified in the notion that the operation of natural law in the Universe is controlled
or operated by conscious and discriminating power which is co-ordinate with
intelligence. It is but one step further to admit that forces are entities, to people the vast
spaces of the Universe with the children of phantasy. Thus history repeats itself, and the
old and the new alike reflect the multiform truth.
Without entering at length into the metaphysical aspect, it is important to notice the
supremacy attributed to the "Paternal Mind." The intelligence of the Universe, poetically
described as "energising before energy," establishes on high the primordial types or
patterns of things which are to be, and, then inscrutably latent, vests the development of
these in the Rectores Mundorum, the divine Regents or powers already referred to. As it
is said, "Mind is with Him, power with them."
The word "Intelligible" is used in the Platonic sense, to denote a mode of being, power or
perception, transcending intellectual comprehension, i.e., wholly distinct from, and
superior to, ratiocination. The Chaldans recognised three modes of perception, viz., the
testimony of the various senses, the ordinary processes of intellectual activity, and the
intelligible conceptions before referred to. Each of these operations is distinct from the
others, and, moreover, conducted in separate matrices, or vehicula. The anatomy of the
Soul was, however, carried much farther than this, and, although in its ultimate radix

p. 14

recognised as identical with the divinity, yet in manifested being it was conceived to be
highly complex. The Oracles speak of the "Paths of the Soul," the tracings of inflexible
fire by which its essential parts are associated in integrity; while its various "summits,"
"fountains," and "vehicula," are all traceable by analogy with universal principles: This
latter fact is, indeed, not the least remarkable feature of the Chaldan system. Like
several of the ancient cosmogonies, the principal characteristic of which seems to have
been a certain adaptability to introversion, Chaldan metaphysics synthesize most clearly
in the human constitution.
In each of the Chaldan Divine Worlds a trinity of divine powers operated, which
synthetically constituted a fourth term. "In every World," says the Oracle, "a Triad
shineth, of which the Monad is the ruling principle." These "Monads " are the divine
Vice-gerents by which the Universe was conceived to be administered. Each of the four
Worlds, viz., the Empyran, Ethereal, Elementary and Material, was presided over by a
Supreme Power, itself in direct rapport with "the Father" and "moved by unspeakable
counsels." These are clearly identical with the Kabalistic conception of the presidential
heads of the four letters composing the Deity name in so many different languages. A
parallel tenet is conveyed in the Oracle which runs: "There is a Venerable Name projected
through the Worlds with a sleepless revolution." The Kabalah again supplies the key to
this utterance, by regarding the Four Worlds as under the presidency of the four letters of
the Venerable Name, a certain letter of the four being allotted to each World, as also was
a special mode of writing the four-lettered name appropriate thereto; and, indeed in that
system it is taught that the order of the Elements, both macrocosmic and microcosmic, on
every plane,
p. 15

is directly controlled by the "revolution of the name." That Name is associated with the
thers of the Elements and is thus considered as a Universal Law; it is the power which
marshals the creative host, summed up in the Demiurgus, Hypezokos, or Flower of Fire.
Reference may here be made to the psychic anatomy of the human being according to
Plato. He places the intellect in the head; the Soul endowed with some of the passions,
such as fortitude, in the heart; while another Soul, of which the appetites, desires and
grosser passions are its faculties, about the stomach and the spleen.
So, the Chaldan doctrine as recorded by Psellus, considered man to be composed of
three kinds of Souls, which may respectively be called:
First, the Intelligible, or divine soul,
Second, the Intellect or rational soul, and
Third, the Irrational, or passional soul.

This latter was regarded as subject to mutation, to be dissolved and perish at the death of
the body.
Of the Intelligible, or divine soul, the Oracles teach that "It is a bright fire, which, by the
power of the Father, remaineth immortal, and is Mistress of Life;" its power may be
dimly apprehended through regenerate phantasy and when the sphere of the Intellect has
ceased to respond to the images of the passional nature.
Concerning the rational soul, the Chaldans taught that it was possible for it to assimilate
itself unto the divinity on the one hand, or the irrational soul on the other. "Things
divine," we read, "cannot be obtained by mortals whose intellect is directed to the body
alone, but those only who are stripped of their garments, arrive at the summit."
To the three Souls to which reference has been made, the Chaldans moreover allotted
three distinct
p. 16

vehicles: that of the divine Soul was immortal, that of the rational soul by approximation
became so; while to the irrational soul was allotted what was called "the image," that is.
the astral form of the physical body.
Physical life thus integrates three special modes of activity, which upon the dissolution of
the body are respectively involved in the web of fate consequent upon incarnate energies
in three-different destinies.
The Oracles urge men to devote themselves to things divine, and not to give way to the
promptings of the irrational soul, for, to such as fail herein, it is significantly said, "Thy
vessel the beasts of the earth shall inhabit."
The Chaldans assigned the place of the Image, the vehicle of the irrational soul, to the
Lunar Sphere; it is probable that by the Lunar Sphere was meant something more than the
orb of the Moon, the whole sublunary region, of which the terrestrial earth is, as it were,
the centre. At death, the rational Soul rose above the lunar influence, provided always the
past permitted that happy release. Great importance was attributed to the way in which
the physical life was passed during the sojourn of the Soul in the tenement of flesh, and
frequent are the exhortations to rise to communion with those Divine powers, to which
nought but the highest Theurgy can pretend.
"Let the immortal depth of your Soul lead you," says an Oracle, "but earnestly raise your
eyes upwards." Taylor comments upon this in the following beautiful passage: "By the
eyes are to be understood all the gnostic powers of the Soul, for when these are extended
the Soul becomes replete with a more excellent life and divine illumination; and is, as it
were, raised above itself."
Of the Chaldan Magi it might be truly said that they "among dreams did first
discriminate the truthful

p. 17

vision!" for they were certainly endowed with a far reaching perception both mental and
spiritual; attentive to images, and fired with mystic fervours, they were something more
than mere theorists, but were also practical exemplars of the philosophy they taught. Life
on the plains of Chalda, with its mild nights and jewelled skies, tended to foster the
interior unfoldment; in early life the disciples of the Magi learnt to resolve the Bonds of
proscription and enter the immeasurable region. One Oracle assures us that, "The girders
of the Soul, which give her breathing, are easy to be unloosed," and elsewhere we read of
the "Melody of the Ether" and of the "Lunar clashings," experiences which testify to the
reality of their occult methods.
The Oracles assert that the impressions of characters and other divine visions appear in
the Ether. The Chaldan philosophy recognized the ethers of the Elements as the subtil
media through which the operation of the grosser elements is effected--by the grosser
elements I mean what we know as Earth, Air, Water and Fire--the principles of dryness
and moisture, of heat and cold. These subtil ethers are really the elements of the ancients,
and seen at an early period to have been connected with the Chaldan astrology, as the
signs of the Zodiac were connected with them. The twelve signs of the Zodiac are
permutations of the ethers of the elements--four elements with three variations each; and
according to the preponderance of one or another elemental condition in the constitution
of the individual, so were his natural inclinations deduced therefrom. Thus when in the
astrological jargon it was said that a man had Aries rising, he was said to be of a fiery
nature, his natural tendencies being active, energetic and fiery, for in the constitution of
such a one the fiery ether predominates. And these ethers were
p. 18

stimulated, or endowed with a certain kind of vibration, by their Presidents, the Planets;
these latter being thus suspended in orderly disposed zones. Unto the Planets, too, colour
and sound were also attributed;, the planetary colours are connected with the ethers, and
each of the Planetary forces was said to have special dominion over, or affinity with, one
or other of the Zodiacal constellations. Communion with the hierarchies of these
constellations formed part of the Chaldan theurgy, and in a curious fragment it is said:
"If thou often invokest it" (the celestial constellation called the Lion) "then when no
longer is visible unto thee the Vault of the Heavens, when the Stars have lost their light
the lamp of the Moon is veiled, the Earth abideth not, and around thee darts the lightning
flame, then all things will appear to thee in the form of a Lion!" The Chaldans, like the
Egyptians, appear to have had a highly developed appreciation of colours, an evidence of
their psychic susceptibility. The use of bright colours engenders the recognition of
subsisting variety and stimulates that perception of the mind which energizes through
imagination, or the operation of images. The Chaldan method of Contemplation appears
to have been to identify the self with the object of contemplation; this is of course
identical with the process of Indian Yoga, and is an idea which appears replete with
suggestion; as it is written, "He assimilates the images to himself, casting them around
his own form." But we are told, "All divine natures are incorporeal, but bodies are bound
in them for your sakes."

The subtil ethers, of which I have spoken, served in their turn as it were for the garment
of the divine Light; for the Oracles teach that beyond these again " A solar world and
endless Light subsist! " This Divine Light was the object of all veneration. Do not think
p. 19

that what was intended thereby was the Solar Light we know: "The inerratic sphere of the
Starless above" is an unmistakable expression and therein "the more true Sun " has place:
Theosophists will appreciate the significance of "the more true Sun," for according to
The Secret Doctrine the Sun we see is but the physical vehicle of a more transcendent
splendour.
Some strong Souls were able to reach up to the Light by their own power: "The mortal
who approaches the fire shall have Light from the divinity, and unto the persevering
mortal the blessed immortals are swift." But what of those of a lesser stature? Were they,
by inability, precluded from such illumination? "Others," we read, "even when asleep, He
makes fruitful from his own Strength." That is to say, some men acquire divine
knowledge through communion with Divinity in sleep. This idea has given rise to some
of the most magnificent contributions to later literature; it has since been thoroughly
elaborated by Porphyry and Synesius. The eleventh Book of the Metamorphoses of
Apuleius and the Vision of Scipio ably vindicate this; and, although no doubt every
Christian has heard that "He giveth unto his beloved in sleep," few, indeed, realise the
possibility underlying that conception.
What, it may be asked, were the views of the Chaldans with respect to terrestrial life:
Was it a spirit of pessimism, which led them to hold this in light esteem? Or, should we
not rather say that the keynote of their philosophy was an immense spiritual optimism? It
appears to me that the latter is the more true interpretation. They realised that beyond the
confines of matter lay a more perfect existence, a truer realm of which terrestrial
administration is but a too often travestied reflection. They sought, as we seek now, the
Good, the Beautiful and the True, but
p. 20

they did not hasten to the Outer in the thirst for sensation, but with a finer perception
realised the true Utopia to be within.
And the first step in that admirable progress was a return to the simple life; hardly,
indeed, a return, for most of the Magi were thus brought up from birth. * The hardihood
engendered by the rugged life, coupled with that wisdom which directed their association,
rendered these children of Nature peculiarly receptive of Nature's Truths. "Stoop not
down," says the Oracle, "to the darkly splendid World, For a precipice lieth beneath the
Earth, a descent of seven steps, and therein is established the throne of an evil and fatal
force. Stoop not down unto that darkly splendid world, Defile not thy brilliant flame with
the earthly dross of matter, Stoop not down for its splendour is but seeming, It is but the
habitation of the Sons of the Unhappy." No more beautiful formulation of the Great Truth
that the exterior and sensuous life is death to the highest energies of the Soul could

possibly have been uttered: but to such as by purification and the practice of virtue
rendered themselves. worthy, encouragement was given, for, we read, "The Higher
powers build up the body of the holy man."
The law of Karma was as much a feature of the Chaldan philosophy as it is of the
Theosophy of today: from a passage in Ficinus, we read, "The Soul perpetually runs and
passes through all things in a certain space of time, which being performed it is presently
compelled to pass back again through all things and unfold a similar web of generation in
the World, according to Zoroaster, who thinks that as often as the same causes return, the
same effects will in like manner return."
p. 21

This is of course the explanation of the proverb that "History repeats itself," and is very
far from the superstitious view of fate. Here each one receives his deserts according to
merit or demerit, and these are the bonds of life; but the Oracles say, "Enlarge not thy
destiny," and they urge men to "Explore the River of the Soul, so that although you have
become a servant to body, you may again rise to the Order from which you descended,
joining works to sacred reason!"
To this end we are commended to learn the Intelligible which exists beyond the mind,
that divine portion of the being which exists beyond Intellect: and this it is only possible
to grasp with the flower of the mind. "Understand the intelligible with the extended flame
of an extended intellect." To Zoroaster also was attributed the utterance "who knows
himself knows all things in himself;" while it is elsewhere suggested that "The paternal
Mind has sowed symbols in the Soul." But such priceless knowledge was possible only to
the Theurgists Who, we are told, "fall not so as to be ranked with the herd that are in
subjection to fate." The divine light cannot radiate in an imperfect microcosm, even as the
Clouds obscure the Sun; for of such as make ascent to the most divine of speculations in
a confused and disordered manner, with unhallowed lips, or unwashed feet, the
progressions are imperfect, the impulses are vain and the paths are dark.
Although destiny, our destiny, may be " written in the Stars" yet it was the mission of the
divine Soul to raise the human Soul above the circle of necessity, and the Oracles give
Victory to that Masterly Will, which
"Hews the wall with might of magic,
Breaks the palisade in pieces,
Hews to atoms seven pickets . . .
Speaks the Master words of knowledge! "
p. 22

The means taken to that consummation consisted in the training of the Will and the
elevation, of the imagination, a divine power which controls consciousness: Believe
yourself to be above body, and you are," says the Oracle; it might have added "Then shall
regenerate phantasy disclose the symbols of the Soul."

But it is said "On beholding yourself fear!" i.e., . the imperfect self.
Everything must be viewed as ideal by him who would understand the ultimate
perfection.
Will is the grand agent in the mystic progress; its rule is all potent over the nervous
system. By Will the fleeting vision is fixed on the treacherous waves of the astral Light;
by Will the consciousness is impelled to commune with the divinity: yet there is not One
Will, but three Wills--the Wills, namely, of the Divine, the Rational and Irrational Souls-to harmonize these is the difficulty.
It is selfishness which impedes the radiation of Thought, and attaches to body. This is
scientifically true and irrespective of sentiment, the selfishness which reaches beyond the
necessities of body is pure vulgarity.
A picture which to the cultured eye beautifully portrays a given subject, nevertheless
appears to the savage a confused patchwork of streaks, so the extended perceptions of a
citizen of the Universe are not grasped by those whose thoughts dwell within the sphere
of the personal life.
The road to the Summum Bonum lies therefore through self-sacrifice, the sacrifice of the
lower to the higher, for behind that Higher Self lies the concealed form of the Antient of
Days, the synthetical Being of Divine Humanity.
These things are grasped by Soul; the song of the Soul is alone heard in the adytum of
God-nourished Silence!
THE

ORACLES OF ZOROASTER.
_______________
CAUSE. GOD.
FATHER. MIND. FIRE.
MONAD. DYAD. TRIAD.
1. But God is He having the head of the Hawk. The same is the first, incorruptible,
eternal, unbegotten, indivisible, dissimilar: the dispenser of all good; indestructible; the
best of the good, the Wisest of the wise; He is the Father of Equity and Justice, selftaught, physical, perfect, and wise--He who inspires the Sacred Philosophy.

Eusebius. Prparatio Evangelica, liber. I., chap. X.

This Oracle does not appear in either of the ancient collections, nor in the group of
oracles given by any of the medival occultists. Cory seems to have been the first to
discover it in the voluminous writings of Eusebius, who attributes the authorship to the
Persian Zoroaster
________
2. Theurgists assert that He is a God and celebrate him as both older and younger, as a
circulating and eternal God, as understanding the whole number of all things moving in
the World, and moreover infinite through his power and energizing a spiral force.
Proclus on the Timus of Plato, 244. Z. or T.
p. 24

The Egyptian Pantheon had an Elder and a Younger Horus--a God--son of Osiris and
Isis. Taylor suggests that He refers to Kronos, Time, or Chronos, as the later Platonists
wrote the name. Kronos, or Saturnus, of the Romans, was son of Uranos and Gaia,
husband of Rhea, father of Zeus.
________
3. The God of the Universe, eternal, limitless, both young and old, having a spiral force.
Cory includes this Oracle in his collection, but he gives no authority for it.
Lobeck doubted its authenticity.
________
4. For the Eternal on *--according to the Oracle--is the cause of never failing life, of
unwearied power and unsluggish energy.
Taylor.--T.
________
5. Hence the inscrutable God is called silent by the divine ones, and is said to consent
with Mind, and to be known to human souls through the power of the Mind alone.
Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 321. T.
Inscrutable. Taylor gives "stable;" perhaps "incomprehensible" is better.
________

6. The Chaldans call the God Dionysos (or Bacchus), Iao in the Phnician tongue
(instead of
p. 25

the Intelligible Light), and he is also called Sabaoth, * signifying that he is above the
Seven poles, that is the Demiurgos.
Lydus, De Mensibus, 83. T.
________
7. Containing all things in the one summit of his own Hyparxis, He Himself subsists
wholly beyond.
Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 212. T.
Hyparxis, is generally deemed to mean "Subsistence." Hupar is Reality as distinct from
appearance; Huparche is a Beginning.
________
8. Measuring and bounding all things.
Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 386. T.
"Thus he speaks the words," is omitted by Taylor and Cory, but present in the Greek.
________
9. For nothing imperfect emanates from the Paternal Principle,
Psellus, 38; Pletho. Z.
This implies--but only from a succedent emanation.
________
10. The Father effused not Fear, but He infused persuasion.
Pletho. Z.
________
11. The Father hath apprehended Himself, and hath not restricted his Fire to his own
intellectual power.

Psellus, 30; Pletho, 33. Z.

p. 26

Taylor gives:--The Father hath hastily withdrawn Himself, but hath not shut up his own
Fire in his intellectual power.
The Greek text has no word "hastily," and as to withdrawn--Arpazo means, grasp or
snatch, but also "apprehend with the mind."
________
12. Such is the Mind which is energized before energy, while yet it had not gone forth,
but abode in the Paternal Depth, and in the Adytum of God nourished silence.
Proc. in Tim., 167. T.
13. All things have issued from that one Fire.
The Father perfected all things, and delivered them over to the Second Mind, whom all
Nations of Men call the First.
Psellus, 24; Pletho, 30. Z.
14. The Second Mind conducts the Empyrean World.
Damascius, De Principiis. T.
15. What the Intelligible saith, it saith by understanding.
Psellus, 35. Z.
16. Power is with them, but Mind is from Him.
Proclus in Platonis Theologiam, 365. T.
17. The Mind of the Father riding on the subtle Guiders, which glitter with the tracings of
inflexible and relentless Fire.
Proclus on the Cratylus of Plato. T.
18. . . . . After the Paternal Conception
I the Soul reside, a heat animating all things.
. . . . For he placed p. 27
The Intelligible in the Soul, and the Soul in dull body,
Even so the Father of Gods and Men placed them in us.

Proclus in Tim. Plat., 124.. Z. or T.

19. Natural works co-exist with the intellectual light of the Father. For it is the Soul
which adorned the vast Heaven, and which adorneth it after the Father, but her dominion
is established on high.
Proclus in Tim., 106. Z. or T.
Dominion, krata: some copies give kerata, horns.
________
20. The Soul, being a brilliant Fire, by the power of the Father remaineth immortal, and is
Mistress of Life, and filleth up the many recesses of the bosom of the World.
Psellus, 28; Pletho, 11. Z.
21. The channels being intermixed, therein she performeth the works of incorruptible
Fire.
Proclus in Politico, p. 399. Z. or T.
22. For not in Matter did the Fire which is in the first beyond enclose His active Power,
but in Mind; for the framer of the Fiery World is the Mind of Mind.
Proclus in Theologian, 333, and Tim., 157. T.
23. Who first sprang from Mind, clothing the one Fire with the other Fire, binding them
together, that he might mingle the fountainous craters, while preserving unsullied the
brilliance of His own Fire.
Proclus in Parm. Platonis. T.
p. 28

24. And thence a Fiery Whirlwind drawing down the brilliance of the flashing flame,
penetrating the abysses of the Universe; for from thence downwards do extend their
wondrous rays.
Proclus in Theologian Platonis, 171 and 172. T.
25. The Monad first existed, and the Paternal Monad still subsists.
Proclus in Euclidem, 27. T.
26. When the Monad is extended, the Dyad is generated.

Proclus in Euclidemi, 27. T.

Note that" What the Pythagoreans signify by Monad, Duad and Triad, or Plato by
Bound, Infinite and Mixed; that the Oracles of the Gods intend by Hyparxis, Power and
Energy."
Damascius De Principiis. Taylor.
________
27. And beside Him is seated the Dyad which glitters with intellectual sections, to govern
all things and to order everything not ordered.
Proclus in Platonis Theologiam, 376. T.
28. The Mind of the Father said that all things should be cut into Three, whose Will
assented, and immediately all things were so divided.
Proclus in Parmen. T.
29. The Mind of the Eternal Father said into Three, governing all things by Mind.
Proclus, Timus of Plato. T.
30. The Father mingled every Spirit from this Triad.
Lydus, De Mensibus, 20. Taylor.
p. 29

31. All things are supplied from the bosom of this Triad.
Lydus, De Mensibus, 20. Taylor.
32. All things are governed and subsist in this Triad.
Proclus in I. Alcibiades. T.
33. For thou must know that all things bow before the Three Supernals.
Damascius, De Principiis. T.
34. From thence floweth forth the Form of the Triad, being prexistent; not the first
Essence, but that whereby all things are measured.
Anon. Z. or T.

35. And there appeared in it Virtue and Wisdom, and multiscient Truth.
Anon. Z. or T.
36. For in each World shineth the Triad, over which the Monad ruleth.
Damascius in Parmenidem. T.
37. The First Course is Sacred, in the middle place courses the Sun, * in the third the
Earth is heated by the internal fire.
Anon. Z. or T.
________
38. Exalted upon High and animating Light, Fire Ether and Worlds.

IDEAS.
INTELLIGIBLES, INTELLECTUALS, IYNGES, SYNOCHES, TELETARCH,
FOUNTAINS, PRINCIPLES, HECATE AND DMONS.
________
39. The Mind of the Father whirled forth in reechoing roar, comprehending by invincible
Will Ideas omniform; which flying forth from that one fountain issued; for from the
Father alike, was the Will and the End (by which are they connected with the Father
according to alternating life, through varying vehicles). But they were divided asunder,
being by Intellectual Fire distributed into other Intellectuals. For the King of all
previously placed before the polymorphous World a Type, intellectual, incorruptible, the
imprint of whose form is sent forth through the World, by which the Universe shone forth
decked with Ideas all various, of which the foundation is One, One and alone. From this
the others rush forth distributed and separated through the various bodies of the Universe,
and are borne in swarms through its vast abysses, ever whirling forth in illimitable
radiation.
They are intellectual conceptions from the Paternal Fountain partaking abundantly of the
brilliance of Fire in the culmination of unresting Time.
But the primary self-perfect Fountain of the Father poured forth these primogenial Ideas.
Proclus in Parmenidem. Z. or T.
40. These being many, descend flashingly upon the shining Worlds, and in them are
contained the Three Supernals.

Damascius in Parmenidem. T
p. 31

41. They are the guardians of the works of the Father, and of the One Mind, the
Intelligible.
Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 205. T.
42. All things subsist together in the Intelligible World.
Damascius, De Principiis. T.
43. But all Intellect understandeth the Deity, for Intellect existeth not without the
Intelligible, neither apart from Intellect doth the Intelligible subsist.
Damascius. Z. or T.
44. For Intellect existeth not without the Intelligible; apart from it, it subsisteth not.
Proclus, Th. Pl., 172. Z. or T.
45. By Intellect He containeth the Intelligibles and introduceth the Soul into the Worlds.
46. By Intellect he containeth the Intelligibles, and introduceth Sense into the Worlds.
Proclus in Crat. T.
47. For this Paternal Intellect, which comprehendeth the Intelligibles and adorneth things
ineffable, hath sowed symbols through the World.
Proclus in Cratylum. T.
48. This Order is the beginning of all section.
Dam., De Prin. T.
49. The Intelligible is the principle of all section.
Damascius, De Principiis. T.
50. The Intelligible is as food to that which understandeth.
Dam., De Prin. T.
p. 32

51. The oracles concerning the Orders exhibits It as prior to the Heavens, as ineffable,
and they add--It hath Mystic Silence.
Proclus in Cratylum. T.
52. The oracle calls the Intelligible causes Swift, Mid asserts that, proceeding from the
Father, they rush again unto Him.
Proclus in Cratylum. T.
53. Those Natures are both Intellectual and Intelligible, which, themselves possessing
Intellection, are the objects of Intelligence to others.
Proclus, Theologiam Platonis. T.
The Second Order of the Platonist philosophy was the "Intelligible and Intellectual
Triad." Among the Chaldans this order includes the Iynges, Synoches and Teletarchs.
The Intellectual Triad of the later Platonists corresponds to the Fountains, Fontal
Fathers or Cosmagogi of the Chaldans.
________
54. The Intelligible Iynges themselves understand from the Father; by Ineffable counsels
being moved so as to understand.
Psellus, 41; Pletho, 31. Z.
55. Because it is the Operator, because it is the Giver of Life Bearing Fire, because it
filleth the Life-producing bosom of Hecat; and it instilleth into the Synoches the
enlivening strength of Fire, endued with mighty Power.
Proclus in Tim., 128. T.
56. He gave His own Whirlwinds to guard the Supernals, mingling the proper force of
His own strength in the Synoches.
Dam., De Prin. T.
p. 33

57. But likewise as many as serve the material Synoches.

T.
58. The Teletarchs are comprehended in the Synoches.
Dam., De Prin. T.

59. Rhea, the Fountain and River of the Blessed Intellectuals, having first received the
powers of all things in Her Ineffable Bosom, pours forth perpetual Generation upon all
things.
Proc. in Crat. T
60. For it is the bound of the Paternal Depth, and the Fountain of the Intellectuals.
Dam., De Prin. T.
61. For He is a Power of circumlucid strength, glittering with Intellectual Sections.
Dam. T.
62 . He glittereth with Intellectual Sections, and hath filled all things with love.
Dam. T.
63. Unto the Intellectual Whirlings of Intellectual Fire, all things are subservient, through
the persuasive counsel of the Father.
Proc. in Parm. T.
64. O! how the World hath inflexible Intellectual Rulers.
65. The source of the Hecat correspondeth with that of the Fontal Fathers.
T.
66. From Him leap forth the Amilicti the all-relentless thunders, and the whirlwind
receiving
p. 34

Bosoms of the all-splendid Strength of Hecat Father-begotten; and He

who encircleth the Brilliance of Fire; And the Strong Spirit of the Poles, all fiery beyond.
[paragraph continues]

Proc. in Crat. T.
67. There is another Fountain, which leadeth the Empyran World.
Proc. in Tim. Z. or T.
68. The Fountain of Fountains, and the boundary of all fountains.
Dam., De Prin.

69. Under two Minds the Life-generating fountain of Souls is comprehended.

Dam., De Prin. T.
70. Beneath them exists the Principal One of the Immaterials.
Darn. in Parm. Z. or T.
Following the Intellectual Triad was the Demiurgos, from whom proceeded the Effable
and Essential Orders including all sorts of Dmons, and the Elementary World.
________
71. Father begotten Light, which alone hath gathered from the strength of the Father the
Flower of mind, and hath the power of understanding the Paternal mind, and Both instil
into all Fountains and Principles the power of understanding and the function of ceaseless
revolution.
Proc. in Tim., 242.
72. All fountains and principles whirl round and always remain' in a ceaseless revolution.
Proc. in Parm. Z. or T.
p. 35

73. The Principles, which have understood the Intelligible works of the Father, He hath
clothed in sensible works and bodies, being intermediate links existing to connect the
Father with Matter, rendering apparent the Images of unapparent Natures, and inscribing
the Unapparent in the Apparent frame of the World.
Dam., De Prin. Z. or T.
74. Typhon, Echidna, and Python, being the progeny of Tartaros and Gaia, who were
united by Uranos, form, as it were, a certain Chaldan Triad, the Inspector and Guardian
of all the disordered fabrications.
Olymp. in Phd. T.
75. There are certain Irrational Demons (mindless elementals), which derive their
subsistence from the Arial Rulers; wherefore the Oracle saith, Being the Charioteer of
the Arial, Terrestrial and Aquatic Dogs.
Olymp. in Phd. T.
76. The Aquatic when applied to Divine Natures signifies a Government inseparable from
Water, and hence the Oracle calls the Aquatic Gods, Water Walkers:

Proc. in Tim., 270. T.

77. There are certain Water Elementals whom Orpheus calls Nereides, dwelling in the
more elevated exhalations of Water, such as appear in damp, cloudy Air, whose bodies are
sometimes seen (as Zoroaster taught) by more acute eyes, especially in Persia and Africa.

PARTICULAR SOULS.
SOUL, LIFE, MAN.
________
78. The Father conceived ideas, and all mortal bodies were animated by Him.
Proc. in Tim., 336. T.
79. For the Father of Gods and men placed the Mind (nous) in the Soul (psyche); and
placed both in the (human) body.
80. The Paternal Mind hath sowed symbols in the Soul.
Psell., 26; Pletho, 6.. Z.
81. Having mingled the Vital Spark from two according substances, Mind and Divine
Spirit, as a third to these He added Holy Love, the venerable Charioteer uniting all things.
Lyd. De Men., 3.
82. Filling the Soul with profound Love.
Proc. in Pl. Theol, 4. Z or T.
83. The Soul of man does in a manner clasp God to herself. Having nothing mortal, she is
wholly inebriated with God. For she glorieth in the harmony under which the mortal body
subsisteth.
Psellus, 17; Pletho, 10. Z.
84. The more powerful Souls perceive Truth through themselves, and are of -a more
inventive Nature. Such Souls are saved through their own strength, according to the
Oracle.
Proclus in I. Alc. Z.
p. 37

85. The Oracle saith that Ascending Souls sing a Pan.

Olymp. in Phd. Z or T.
86. Of all Souls, those certainly are superlatively blessed, which are poured forth from
Heaven to Earth; and they are happy, and have ineffable stamina, as many as proceed
from Thy Splendid Self, O King, or from Jove Himself, under the strong necessity of
Mithus.
Synes. De Insom, 153. Z or T.
Query Mithras.
________
87. The Souls of those who quit the body violently are most pure.
Psellus, 27. Z.
88. The girders of the Soul, which give her breathing, are easy to be unloosed.
Psellus, 32; Pletho, 8. Z.
89. For when you see a Soul set free, the Father sendeth another, that the number may be
complete.
Z. or T.
90. Understanding the works of the Father, they avoid the shameless Wing of Fate; they
are placed in God, drawing forth strong light-bearers, descending from the Father, from
whom as they descend, the Soul gathereth of the empyran fruits the soul-nourishing
flower.
Proc. in Tim., 321. Z. or T.
91. This Animastic Spirit which blessed men have called the Pneumatic Soul, becometh a
god, an all-various Dmon, and an Image (disembodied), and in this form of Soul
suffereth her punishments The
p. 38

Oracles, too, accord with this account; for they assimilate the employment
of the Soul in Hades, to the delusive visions of a dream.
[paragraph continues]

Synesius De Insom. Z. or T.

The word Dmon in the original meaning of the term did not necessarily mean a bad
Spirit, and was as often applied to pure spirits as to impure.
Compare the Eastern doctrine of Devachan, a stage of pleasing illusion after death.
________
92. One life after another, from widely distributed sources. Passing from above, through
to the opposite part; through the Centre of the Earth; and to the fifth middle, fiery centre,
where the life-bearing fire descendeth as far as the material world.
Z. or T.
93. Water is a symbol of life; hence Plato and the gods before Plato, call it (the Soul) at
one time the whole water of vivification, and at another time a certain fountain of it.
Proc. in Tim., 318. Z.
94. O Man, of a daring nature, thou subtle production.
Psell., 12; Pletho, 21. Z,
95. For thy vessel the beasts of the Earth shall inhabit.
Psell., 36; Pletho, 7. Z.
Vessel is the body in which the Nous--thou, dwellest for a time.
________
96. Since the Soul perpetually runs and passes through many experiences in a certain
space of time;
p. 39

which being performed, it is presently compelled to. pass back again through all things,
and unfold a similar web of generation in the World, according to Zoroaster, who thinketh
that as often as the same causes return, the same effects will in like manner be sure to
ensue.
Ficin. De Im. An., 129. Z.
97. According to Zoroaster, in us the ethereal vestment of the Soul perpetually revolves
(reincarnates).
Ficin. De Im. An., 131. Z.

98. The Oracles delivered by the Gods celebrate the essential fountain of every Soul; the
Empyrean, the Ethereal and the Material. This fountain they separate from (Zoogonothea)
the vivifying Goddess (Rhea), from whom (suspending the whole of Fate) they make two
series or orders; the one animastic, or belonging to the Soul, and the other belonging to
Fate. They assert that the Soul is derived front the animastic series, but that sometimes it
becometh subservient to Fate, when passing into an irrational condition of being,. it
becometh subject to Fate instead of to Providence.

MATTER.
THE WORLD--AND NATURE.
99. The Matrix containing all things.
T.
100. Wholly divisible, and yet indivisible.
p. 40

101. Thence abundantly springeth forth the generations of multifarious Matter.

Proc. in Tim., 118. T.
102. These frame atoms, sensible forms, corporeal bodies, and things destined to matter.
Dam, De Prin. T.
103. The Nymphs of the Fountains, and all the Water Spirits, and terrestrial, arial and
astral forms, are the Lunar Riders and Rulers of all Matter, the Celestial, the Starry, and
that which lieth in the Abysses.
Lydus., p. 32.
104. According to the Oracles, Evil is more feeble than Non-entity.
Proc. de Prov. Z. or T.
105. We learn that Matter pervadeth the whole world, as the Gods also assert.
Proc., Tim., 142. Z. or T.
106. All Divine Natures are incorporeal, but bodies are bound to them for your sakes.
Bodies not being able to contain incorporeals, by reason of the Corporeal Nature, in
which ye are concentrated.

Proc. in Pl. Polit., 359. Z. or T.

107. For the Paternal Self-begotten Mind, understanding His works sowed in all, the fiery
bonds of love, that all things might continue loving for an infinite time. That the
connected series of things might intellectually remain in the Light of the Father; that the
elements of the World might continue their course in mutual attraction.
Proc. in Tim., 155. T.
p. 41

108. The Maker of all things, self-operating, framed the World. And there was a certain
Mass of Fire: all these things Self-Operating He produced, that the Body of the Universe
might be conformed, that the World might be manifest, and not appear membranous,
Proc. in Tim., 154. Z. or T.
109. For He assimilateth the images to himself, casting them around his own form.
110. For they are an imitation of his Mind, but that which is fabricated hath something of
Body.
Proc. in Tim., 87. Z or. T.
111. There is a Venerable Name, with a sleepless revolution, leaping forth into the worlds,
through the rapid tones of the Father.
Proc. in Crat. Z. or T.
112. The Ethers of the Elements therefore are there.
Olympiodorus in Phd. Z. or T.
113. The Oracles assert that the types of Characters, and of other Divine visions appear in
the Ether (or Astral Light).
Simp. in Phys., 144. Z. or T.
114. In this the things without figure are figured.
Simp. in Phys., 143. Z. or T.
115. The Ineffable and Effable impressions of the World.
116. The Light hating World, and the winding currents by which many are drawn down.
Proc. in Tim., 339. Z. or T

p. 42

117. He maketh the whole World of Fire, Air,. Water, and Earth, and of the all-nourishing
Ether.
Z. or T.
118. Placing Earth in the middle, but Water below the Earth, and Air above both these.
Z. or T.
119. He fixed a vast multitude of un-wandering Stars, not by a strain laborious and
hurtful, but with stability void of movement, forcing Fire forward into Fire.
Proc. in Tim., 280. Z. or T.
120. The Father congregated the Seven Firmaments of the Kosmos, circumscribing the
Heavens with convex form.
Dam. in Parm. Z, or T.
121. He constituted a Septenary of wandering Existences (the Planetary globes).
Z. or T.
122. Suspending their disorder in Well-disposed Zones.
Z. or T.
123. He made them six in number, and for the Seventh He cast into the midst thereof the
Fiery Sun.
Proc. in Tim., 280. Z. or T.
124. The Centre from which all (lines) which way soever are equal.
Proc. in Euclidem.
125. And that the Swift Sun doth pass as ever around a Centre.
Proc. in Plat. Th., 317. Z. or T.
p. 43

126. Eagerly urging itself towards that Centre of resounding Light.

Proc. in Tim., 236. T.

127. The Vast Sun, and the Brilliant Moon.

128. As rays of Light his locks flow forth, ending in acute points.
Proc. in Pl. Pol. 387. T.
129. And of the Solar Circles, and of the Lunar, clashings, and of. the Arial Recesses;
the Melody of Ether, and of the Sun, and of the phases of the Moon, and of the Air.
Proc. in Tim., 257. Z. or T.
130. The most mystic of discourses informs us that His wholeness is in the Supramundane Orders for there a Solar World and Boundless Light subsist, as, the Oracles of
the Chaldans affirm.
Proc. in Tim., 264. Z. or T.
131. The Sun more true measureth all things by time, being itself the time of time,
according to the Oracle of the Gods concerning it.
Proc. in Tim., 249. Z. or T.
132. The Disk (of the Sun) is borne in the Starless.. realm above the Inerratic Sphere; and
hence he is, not in the midst of the Planets, but of the Three Worlds, according to the
telestic Hypothesis.
Jul., Crat., 5, 334. Z. or T.
133. The Sun is a Fire, the Channel of Fire, and the dispenser of Fire.
Proc. in Tim., 141. Z. or T.
p. 44

134. Hence Kronos, The Sun as Assessor beholds the true pole.
135. The Ethereal Course, and the vast motion of the Moon, and the Arial fluxes.
Proclus in Tim., 257. Z. or T.
136. O Ether, Sun, and Spirit of the Moon, ye are the chiefs of the Air.
Proc. in Tim., 257. Z. or T.
137. And the wide Air, and the Lunar Course, and the Pole of the Sun.
Proc. in Tim., 257. Z. or T.

138. For the Goddess bringeth forth the Vast Sun, and the lucent Moon.
139. She collecteth it, receiving the Melody of Ether, and of the Sun, and of the Moon,
and of whatsoever things are contained in the Air.
140. Unwearied Nature ruleth over the Worlds and works, that the Heavens drawing
downward might run an eternal course, and that the other periods of the Sun, Moon,
Seasons, Night and Day, might be accomplished.
Proc. in Tim., 4, 323. Z. or T.
141. And above the shoulders of that Great Goddess, is Nature in her vastness exalted.
Proc. in Tim., 4. T.
142. The most celebrated of the Babylonians, together with Ostanes and Zoroaster, very
properly call the starry Spheres "Herds"; whether because these alone among corporeal
magnitudes, are perfectly carried about around a Centre, or in conformity to the Oracles,
because they are considered by them
p. 45

as in a certain respect the bands and collectors of physical reasons, which they likewise
call in their sacred discourse "Herds" (agelous) and by the insertion of a gamma
(aggelous) Angels. Wherefore the Stars which preside over each of these herds are
considered to be Deities or Dmons, similar to the Angels, and are called Archangels;
and they are seven in number.
Anon. in Theologumenis Arithmeticis. Z.
Daimon in Greek meant "a Spirit," not "a bad Spirit."
________
143. Zoroaster calls the congruities of material forms to the ideals of the Soul of the
World--Divine Allurements.

MAGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL PRECEPTS

144. Direct not thy mind to the vast surfaces of the Earth; for the Plant of Truth grows not
upon the ground. Nor measure the motions of the Sun, collecting rules, for be is carried
by the Eternal Will of the Father, and not for your sake alone. Dismiss (from your mind)
the impetuous course of the Moon, for she moveth always by the power of necessity. The
progression of the Stars was not generated for your sake. The wide arial flight of birds
gives no true knowledge nor the dissection of the entrails of
p. 46

victims; they are all mere toys, the basis of mercenary fraud:, flee from these if you
would enter the sacred paradise of piety, where Virtue, Wisdom and Equity are
assembled.
Psel., 4. Z.
145. Stoop not down unto the Darkly-Splendid World; wherein continually lieth a
faithless Depth, and Hades wrapped in clouds, delighting in unintellible images,
precipitous, winding, a black ever-rolling Abyss; ever espousing a Body unluminous,
formless and void.
Synes., de Insom., 140. Z. or T.
146. Stoop not down, for a precipice lieth beneath the Earth, reached by a descending
Ladder which hath Seven Steps, and therein is established the Throne of an evil and fatal
force.
Psell., 6; Pletho, 2. Z.
147. Stay not on the Precipice with the dross of Matter, for there is a place for thy Image
in a realm ever splendid.
Psell., 1, 2; Pletho, 14; Synesius, 140. Z.
148. Invoke not the visible Image of the Soul of Nature.
Psell., 15; Pletho, 23. Z.
149. Look not upon Nature, for her name is fatal.
Proc. in Plat. Th., 143. Z.
150. It becometh you not to behold them before your body is initiated, since by alway
alluring they seduce the souls from the sacred mysteries.
Proc. in I. Alcib. Z. or T.
p. 47

151. Bring her not forth, lest in departing she retain something.
Psell., 3; Pletho, 15. Z.
Taylor says that "her" refers to the human soul.
________

152. Defile not the Spirit, nor deepen a superficies.

Psell., 19; Pletho, 13. Z.
153. Enlarge not thy Destiny.
Psell., 37; Pletho, 4.
154. Not hurling, according to the Oracle, a transcendent foot towards piety.
Dam. in Vitam Isidore. ap. Suidam Z. or T.
155. Change not the barbarous Names of Evocation for-there are sacred Names in every
language which are given by God, having in the Sacred Rites a Power Ineffable.
Psell., 7. Nicephotus. Z. or T.
156. Go not forth when the Lictor passeth by.
Picus de Mirandula, Concl. Z.
157. Let fiery hope nourish you upon the Angelic plane.
Olymp. in Phd. Proc. in Alcib. Z. or T.
158. The conception of the glowing Fire hath the first rank, for the mortal who
approacheth that Fire shall have Light from God; and unto the persevering mortal the
Blessed Immortals are swift.
Proc. in Tim., 65. Z. or T.
1S9. The Gods exhort us to understand the radiating form of Light.
Proc. in Crat. Z. or T.
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160. It becometh you to hasten unto the Light, and to the Rays of the Father, from whom
was sent unto you a Soul (Psyche) endued with much mind (Nous).
Psell., 33. Pletho, 6. Z.
161. Seek Paradise.
Psell., 41. Pletho, 27. Z.
162. Learn the Intelligible for it subsisteth beyond the Mind.

Psell., 41. Pletho, 27. Z.

163. There is a certain Intelligible One, whom it becometh-you to understand with the
Flower of Mind.
Psell., 31. Pletho, 28. Z.
164. But the Paternal Mind accepteth not the aspiration of the soul until she hath passed
out of her oblivious state, and pronounceth the Word, regaining the Memory of the pure
paternal Symbol.
Psell., 39. Pletho, 5. Z.
165. Unto some He gives the ability to receive the Knowledge of Light; and others, even
when asleep, he makes fruitful from His own strength.
Synes., de Insomn, 135. Z. or T.
166. It is not proper to understand that Intelligible One with vehemence, but with the
extended flame of far reaching Mind, measuring all things except that Intelligible. But it
is requisite to understand this; for if thou inclinest thy Mind thou wilt understand it, not
earnestly; but it is becoming to bring with thee a pure and enquiring sense, to extend the
void mind of thy Soul to the Intelligible, that thou mayest learn the Intelligible, because it
subsisteth beyond Mind.
Dam. T.
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167. Thou wilt not comprehend it, as when understanding some common thing.
Damascius, de primis principiis. T.
168. Ye who understand, know the Super-mundane Paternal Depth.
Dam. Z. or T.
169. Things Divine are not attainable by mortals who understand the body alone, but only
by those who stripped of their garments arrive at the summit.
Proc. in Crat. Z. or T.
170. Having put on the completely armed-vigour of resounding Light, with triple strength
fortifying the Soul and the Mind, He must put into the Mind the various Symbols, and not
walk dispersedly on the empyran path, but with concentration.

171. For being furnished with every kind of Armour, and armed, he is similar to the
Goddess.
Proc. in Pl. Th., 324. T.
172. Explore the River of the Soul, whence, or in what order you have come: so that
although you have become a servant to the body, you may again rise to the Order from
which you descended, joining works to sacred reason.
Psell., 5. Pletho. 1. Z.
173. Every way unto the emancipated Soul extend the rays of Fire.
Psell., 11. Pletho, 24. Z.
174. Let the immortal depth of your Soul lead you, but earnestly raise your eyes upwards.
Psell., 11. Pletho, 20.
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175. Man, being an intelligent Mortal, must bridle his Soul that she may not incur
terrestrial infelicity, but be saved.
Lyd., De Men., 2.
176. If thou extendeth the Fiery Mind to the work of piety, thou wilt preserve the fluxible
body.
Psell., 22. Pletho, 16. Z.
177. The telestic life through Divine Fire removeth all the stains, together with everything
of a foreign and irrational nature, which the spirit of the Soul has attracted from
generation, as we are taught by the Oracle to believe.
Proc. in Tim., 331. Taylor.
178. The Oracles of the Gods declare, that through purifying ceremonies, not the Soul
only, but bodies themselves become worthy of receiving much assistance and health, for,
say they, the mortal vestment of coarse Matter will by these means be purified." And this,
the Gods, in an exhortatory manner, announce to the most holy of Theurgists.
Jul., Crat. v., p. 334. Z. or T.
179. We should flee, according to the Oracle, the multitude of men going in a herd.
Proc. in I. Alc. Z. or T.

180. Who knoweth himself, knoweth all things in himself.

I. Pic., p. 211. Z.
181. The Oracles often give victory to our own choice, and not to the Order alone of the
Mundane periods. As, for instance, when they say, "On beholding thyself, fear!" And
again, "Believe thyself to be above the Body, and thou art so." And,
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still further, when they assert, "That our voluntary sorrows germinate in us the growth of
the particular life we lead."
Proc., de Prov., p. 483. Z. or T.
182. But these are mysteries which I evolve in the profound Abyss of the Mind.
183. As the Oracle thereforth saith: God is never so turned away from man, and never so
much sendeth him new paths, as when he maketh ascent to divine speculation's or works
in a confused or disordered manner, and as it adds, with unhallowed lips, or unwashed
feet. For of those who are thus negligent, the progress is imperfect, the impulses are vain,
and the paths are dark.
Proc. in Parm. Z. or T.
184. Not knowing that every God is good, ye are fruitlessly vigilant.
Proc. in Platonis Pol., 355. Z. or T.
185. Theurgists fall not so as to be ranked among the herd that are in subjection to Fate.
Lyd., De men. Taylor.
186. The number nine is divine, receives its completion from three triads, and attains the
summits of theology, according to the Chaldaic philosophy as Porphyry informeth us.
Lyd., p. 121.
187. In the left side of Hecate is a fountain of Virtue, which remaineth entirely within her,
not sending forth its virginity.
Psell., 13; Pletho, 9. Z.
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188. And the earth bewailed them, even unto their children.

Psell., 21; Pletho, 3. Z.

189. The Furies are the Constrainers of Men.
Psell., 26; Pletho, 19. Z.
190. Lest being baptized to the Furies of the Earth, and to the necessities of nature (as
some one of the Gods saith), you should perish.
Proc. in Theol., 297. Z. or T.
191. Nature persuadeth us that there are pure Dmons, and that evil germs of Matter may
alike become useful and good.
Psell., 16; Pletho, 18. Z.
192. For three days and no longer need ye sacrifice.
Pic. Concl. Z.
193. So therefore first the Priest who governeth the works of Fire, must sprinkle with the
Water of the loud-resounding Sea.
Proc. in Crat. Z. or T.
194. Labour thou around the Strophalos of Hecat.
Psell., 9. Nicephorus.
195. When thou shalt see a Terrestrial Dmon approaching, Cry aloud! and sacrifice the
stone Mnizourin.
Psell., 40. Z.
196. If thou often invokest thou shalt see all things growing dark; and then when no
longer is visible unto thee the High-arched Vault of Heaven, when the Stars have lost
their Light and the Lamp of
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the Moon is veiled, the Earth abideth not, and around thee darts the Lightning Flame and
all things appear amid thunders.
Psell., 10; Pletho, 22. Z.
197. From the Cavities of the Earth leap forth the terrestrial Dog-faced demons, showing
no true sign unto mortal man.

Psell, 23; Pletho, 10. Z.

198. A similar Fire flashingly extending through the rushings of Air, or a Fire formless
whence cometh the Image of a Voice, or even a flashing Light abounding, revolving,
whirling forth, crying aloud. Also there is the vision of the fire-flashing Courser of Light,
or also a Child, borne aloft on the shoulders of the Celestial Steed, fiery, or clothed with
gold, or naked, or shooting with the bow shafts of Light, and standing on the shoulders of
the horse; then if thy meditation prolongeth itself, thou shalt unite all these Symbols into
the Form of a Lion.
Proc. in Pl. Polit., 380; Stanley Hist. Philos. Z. or T.
199. When thou shalt behold that holy and formless Fire shining flashingly through the
depths of the Universe: Hear thou the Voice of Fire.

ORACLES FROM PORPHYRY.

1. There is above the Celestial Lights an Incorruptible Flame always sparkling; the Spring
of Life, the Formation of all Beings, the Original of all things! This Flame produceth all
things, and
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nothing perisheth but what it consumeth. It maketh Itself known by Itself. This Fire
cannot be contained in any Place, it is without Body and without Matter. It encompasseth
the Heavens. And there goeth out from it little Sparks, which make all the Fires of the
Sun, of the Moon, and of the Stars. Behold! what I know of God! Strive not to know
more of Him, for that is beyond thy capacity, how wise soever thou art. As to the rest,
know that unjust and wicked Man cannot hide himself from the Presence of God!
No subtilty nor excuse can disguise anything front His piercing Eyes. All is full of God,
and God is in All!
________
2. There is in God an Immense Profundity of Flame! Nevertheless, the Heart should not
fear to approach this Adorable Fire, or to be touched by it; it will never be consumed by
this sweet Fire, whose mild and Tranquil Heat maketh the Binding, the Harmony, and the
Duration of the World. Nothing subsisteth but by this Fire, which is God Himself. No
Person begat Him; He is without Mother; He knoweth all things, and can be taught
nothing.
He is Infallible in His designs, and His name is unspeakable, Behold now, what God is!
As for us who are His messengers, We are but a Little Part of God.